Tax Carnival #17: Quit monkeying around!

It's April 16. The day before tax due day 2007. The day when many of us, especially those of us still working on our 1040s, feel a special kinship with those crazy loons. Don't fret! It's also Tax Carnival Day.

And while doing taxes can definitely be a zoo, our 17th Tax Carnival will help you quit monkeying around and get your return done. Plus, it promises to be more fun than a barrel of monkeys!

First, major thanks to Luis, my buddy in Tulsa. He sent me the e-card below (via CrossCards.com), and the inquisitive sheep inspired this week's zoological theme.

So now, let's get our tax ducks in a row.

We start this day-before-the deadline Tax Carnival over at Mighty Bargain Hunter, where mbhunter is trying to avoid being pigeon-holed as a procrastinator. He says that this might be the year he once again does his return by the April deadline. Maybe.

Everybody grouses about taxes, but Clever Dude at his self-named blog gives us 10 reasons we shouldn't complain about paying these levies.

We all know that political correctness is often the 800-pound gorilla we tiptoe around. It's also an issue for the IRS when dealing with couple designations, says Teri at Personal Finance Advice. "The IRS long ago did away with the old designations of 'husband' and 'wife' on individual tax returns, and replaced them with 'taxpayer' and 'spouse,'" she says. "The result has led to many headaches for tax practitioners."

Abdulrasool at 3 Debt Consolidation Community points out that if your debtors wrote off your debt, this automatically creates taxable income for you. To help us from making hare-brained debt -- and tax -- errors, check out 10 Crucial Debt Reduction Mistakes.

Ben and his wife are happy as larks this filing season. That's because, Ben tells us over at Money Smart Life, they are "celebrating the first time we're able to use the child tax credit. It's Tax Deduction Baby!"

Vause at Active Duty Military Money and Matters encourages us all to make like elephants and offers us One Last Tax Tip so that we don't forget to claim the phone tax refund.

Folks who find themselves busy as beavers in these last two days before 1040s are due, need to check out a couple of items offering assistance with tax software.

Samuel provides us a Tax Preparation Software Pricing Comparison posted at Getting Finances Done.

And FIRE Getters presents Free TurboTax + Discounts & Promotion Codes! posted at FIRE Finance.

When it comes to dealing with the combination of taxes and health care, you need to be sly as a fox. Jay over at Colorado Health Insurance Insider discovered that in his post informing us that the IRS rules on HSAs are not finished for 2007.

If you think where you live is too tax-heavy, then check out Sun's post over at The Sun’s Financial Diary on the most tax-friendly states. If you think you want to live in one of them, then head that direction, preferably as the crow flies.

Whether Illinois ever has a chance to be top dog on that tax-friendly list could depend on a new gross receipts tax proposal. Kirk at the Kirk Walsh blog aims to debunk the Illinois governor's new tax plan.

There once was a poem about taxes … OK, that's not really my writing style, but we all can appreciate the hearty hyena laughs that such rhymes produce. To cheer up our almost tax-deadline dealings, Madeleine at Mad Kane's Humor Blog offers us a tax-filing limerick.

We're all looking for the goose who can give us a golden egg. Unfortunately, to fill our savings nest and protect it against taxes, we usually have to do the feathering ourselves. WBL at Wealth Building Lessons has a suggestion on how to Save On Taxes Through Income Splitting.

And of course all you tax-savvy readers know that taxes don't end when we submit our 1040s. To ensure that in the coming years the amounts we owe Uncle Sam are as low as possible, you have to do some planning.

To that end, Allison presents part 2 of Investments, Retirement and Estate Planning. It's part of her Money Mondays feature posted at Queercents, and it will definitely help you squirrel away some cash in a tax-efficient way.

And with that, we wrap up this final Tax Carnival before our 2006 returns are due. Thanks for reading and to my fellow bloggers, thanks for contributing. I hope everyone has found some useful information here and that you aren't stuck working on your taxes 'til the cows come home!

The Carnival is taking a little post-filing tax break, but will be back here on Monday, May 7, with Tax Carnival #18. So mark your calendar and make sure your tax tip is included by clicking the above button.

Comments

[FIRE Finance]

Thanks Kay for the mention. Great Carnival, very informative. Could not stop laughing after seeing the graphics of the hyena howling with laughter. Keep up the good job!
Cheers,
FIRE Finance